Cohousing communities: a growing trend in communal living

By Josh Blumenfeld

Nestled off Baseline Road in the town of Lafayette in Boulder County, Colo., forty-two homes are clustered on 43 acres in what is called a cohousing community, a movement that traces its roots to Denmark and arrived in the United States in the 1980s.

"It's a way of living in a community that's a cross between a 1960s commune and a 1990s townhouse," said Dan Glick, a former Scripps Fellow who, along with his two children, lives in the Nyland community in Lafayette. "We own our own houses and collectively share common areas."

The cohousing movement began in Denmark in the late 1960s. Today, there are cohousing communities around the world. According to Glick, Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett are credited with popularizing the movement in the United States in the 1980s.

According to the Cohousing Community Web site, as of February 2003 there were 151 cohousing communities in existence or being planned across the United States. There are 12 cohousing communities in Colorado, four of which are in Boulder County.

A principal feature of a cohousing community is the common house, where group meals are served and community gatherings take place. Individual homes have their own kitchens, and community meals usually are served two to four times a week. Residents share work responsibilities and cooking duties.

The cohousing community is designed to foster a close sense of community. Houses are generally clustered together and face one another. Parking areas also are designed to bring neighbors together. "You park in an outlying parking lot and walk along a pedestrian way to your home," Glick said.

Getting into a cohousing community is not as simple as buying a home in a community. According to the Cohousing Community website, a potential resident usually must attend orientation sessions about the community and community meetings. If accepted, the potential resident then makes an "equity investment" in the community, which can range from a few thousand dollars to up to 15 percent of the final cost of the potential resident's home.

In the United States, most cohousing communities are structured as condominiums or planned unit developments. Common land is jointly owned, while individual residents have sole ownership on their home lots. Because of the joint owned features, a home in a cohousing community may be more expensive than a comparable home in a standard neighborhood.

Boulder residents will have ample opportunity to find out more about cohousing communities at the 2003 National Cohousing Conference, which will be held in Boulder June 19 through 22 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The conference will feature tours of local cohousing communities, speakers and various breakout sessions. For more information or to register for the conference, visit the Cohousing Network Web site.

CEJ Webmaster Josh Blumenfeld will be serving as a general assignment reporter with the Durango (Colo.) Herald daily newspaper this summer as a Colorado Press Association intern.